Ecological risk assessments
A foundation of sustainable fisheries management is managing the impact of fishing activities on non-target species and the broader marine ecosystem.
All fisheries that interact with protected species listed under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 must be managed to address the risks to these species.
An ecological risk assessment (ERA) is an analysis of the best available information about fishery impacts on:
- target species
- non-target and protected species (e.g. dugongs, turtles, dolphins and protected fish)
- the broader ecosystem.
ERAs identify and measure the ecological risks of fishing activity and identify issues that must be further managed under harvest strategies.
ERA guideline
A priority of the Queensland Sustainable Fisheries Strategy: 2017–2027 was to develop a guideline to assess the impact of fishing activities on the ecosystem.
Our ERA guideline includes:
- principles for prioritising ERAs according to risk
- assessment methods that reflect national standards
- a formal approach for identifying and prioritising management actions to address ERA outcomes.
Reports using ERA guideline
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East coast inshore fishery
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East coast Spanish mackerel fishery
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Fin fish (stout whiting) trawl fishery
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Gulf of Carpentaria developmental fin fish trawl fishery
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Gulf of Carpentaria inshore fishery
- Scoping Study
- Level 1 Ecological Risk Assessment
- Level 2 Ecological Risk Assessments
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Gulf of Carpentaria line fishery
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Marine aquarium fish fishery
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Mud and blue swimmer crab fishery
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Queensland coral fishery
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Reef line fishery
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River and inshore beam trawl fishery
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Rocky reef fishery
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Sea cucumber fishery
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Spanner crab fishery
Previous ERA reports
- Southern Queensland east coast otter trawl fishery and river and inshore beam trawl fishery (PDF, 4.4MB)
- East coast otter trawl fishery in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (led by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority)
- Coral reef fin fish spawning closures (PDF, 1.8MB)
- Other species component of the coral reef fin fish fishery (PDF, 319.1KB)
- Marine aquarium fishery (PDF, 291.7KB)
- Marine specimen shell collection fishery (PDF, 364.2KB)
- Coral fishery (PDF, 547.8KB)
- Blue swimmer, spanner and mud crab fisheries (PDF, 173.2KB)
- Eel fishery (PDF, 244.6KB)
- East coast Spanish mackerel fishery (PDF, 205.6KB)
- Marine fish species collected in the Queensland marine aquarium trade (PDF, 291.7KB)
- Coral taxa collected in the coral fishery (PDF, 237.1KB)
- Queensland managed fisheries in the Gulf of Carpentaria (PDF, 237.1KB)